Exactly 34 days from now, a change in the stewardship of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) Financial Supervision Sector (FSS) is upon us, as its current head reaches the mandatory retirement age.

It feels like just yesterday she walked into the corridors of what was then known as the Central Bank of the Philippines in 1984, a mere 24-year-old, to join the institution's battery of bank examiners.

That's right, Virginia, bullseye! I'm referring to the dimpled, soft-spoken Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier, the hybrid La Salle-Ateneo alumna, who will be retiring this July 31.

Why hybrid? She earned her Bachelor of Science in Commerce from the University of St. La Salle-Bacolod before pursuing her Master's in Business Administration at Ateneo de Manila University.

Yes, she's counting the days until she finally assumes the dual role (sans the title) of “mother and wifey” to her family, along with tackling mundane household chores.

“I look forward to my retirement and being a full-time housewife and mother to my three grownup children (Chia, Mark, and James),” she tells me, not with qualms or inhibitions, but with longing and desire.

Lest I be misconstrued, DG Chuchi isn't entirely remiss with her family duties, but doing it full-time is an entirely different ballgame. Considering she lives in Quezon City and deals with unpredictable traffic, she'll no longer worry about being late for meetings.

Mother and wifey Chuchi also looks forward to sorting through her abundant, disregarded things and knick-knacks accumulated over the years. “I’m going to declutter the house,” she shared.

Moving forward, the DG shared that one thing she'll miss is “engaging” with players in the banking ecosystem once she becomes private citizen Chuchi. “Because discussing and exploring new ways, I will definitely miss engaging the stakeholders, the industry players.”

For now, though, DG Chuchi's schedule is packed—attending meetings, including despedida lunches, dinners, and parties. She can't refuse these, as they reflect the deep respect and appreciation market players and her colleagues have for her work and contributions to the industry.

It goes without saying that DG Chuchi's impending retirement opens the door for Assistant Governors (AGs) to move up the ladder. Words along the hallowed BSP corridors is that two lady AGs are being considered for the post.

Again, Virginia, you hit the bullseye—one of them is AG Lyn I. Javier, who currently helms the Policy and Specialized Supervision Sub-Sector under FSS.

In a wider responsibility spectrum, AG Lyn oversees the supervisory policy and data departments, including the supervision of specialized areas such as money laundering, information technology, treasury, and trust operations.

The other candidate for the post is Arifa A. Ala, a lawyer and CPA (certified public accountant). Like DG Chuchi and AG Lyn, she's a career central banker with extensive experience and technical expertise in banking supervision and regulation, and she's in charge of Islamic banking and finance—chairing the Inter-agency Working Group on Islamic Banking and Finance.

Based on my sleuthing, Atty. Asma Panda temporarily assumed the legal counsel position vacated by lawyer Elmore Capule, who previously subscribed to the Early Retirement Program offered by the BSP Governor (now Monetary Board Member Benjamin E. Diokno) but whose retirement was rescinded, and he was promoted to DG for the corporate services sector in October last year.

This is momentary, as the BSP decided to engage the services of Roberto Figueroa, general counsel-senior vice president of HSBC and law lecturer, who is scheduled to assume the position at the end of this month.

All things considered, however, I love the idea of homegrown talents moving up the corporate ladder simply because it encourages and incentivizes career personnel to stay on. A case in point is Zeno Ronald Abenoja, who is now DG for the Monetary and Economics Sector.

Curious who will be the incoming FSS DG? My muted source, familiar with the promotion, shared that AG Lyn was endorsed, but as the saying goes: it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings! Let's watch how this will play out.